Terms of Use

1. WELCOME

Welcome to Noblis, Inc.’s (Noblis’) website. Please feel free to browse noblis.org (the “Website”) and learn. We recommend that you review this Terms of Use Agreement (the “Agreement”) carefully before using the Website. By visiting or using the Website in any way, or linking to the Website, you are entering into an agreement with Noblis. At all times, you are bound by the then-current version of this Agreement and all applicable laws. Noblis highly recommends that you review this Agreement from time to time to ensure that you are familiar with the most recent version.

2. ENTIRE AGREEMENT

This Agreement, together with our Privacy Policy, constitutes the entire agreement between you and Noblis relating to your use of the Website. If any portion of this Agreement is unlawful, invalid, or unenforceable, then such portion of this Agreement shall be deemed severed from the Agreement and shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the remainder of this Agreement.

3. WEBSITE CONTENT AND COPYRIGHT

This Website and the computers (including the software and files) used to run and maintain it are the property of Noblis. This Website, the computers hosting this Website, and content provided on this Website, including the text, graphics, audio and video, podcasts, and downloads, are the exclusive property of Noblis or are licensed to Noblis, and may not be accessed, copied, reproduced, modified, altered, publicly distributed, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, publicly performed or displayed, or otherwise used without written permission from Noblis. Noblis or its licensors own all intellectual property rights, including copyrights, in such content. You may, however, access this Website and view, display, download, store, and print the materials available on this Website, but only for your personal, non-commercial use. You may not remove any copyright notices or other notices of intellectual property rights from such content. Any unauthorized use of this Website will terminate the permission granted by these Terms of Use and may violate applicable laws, including copyright law, trademark laws, and commercial regulations and statutes. All violators will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

4. USER CONTENT

Any content that you provide, upload, or otherwise make available on the Website (“User Content”) is and remains your sole property or the property of your licensors. By providing, uploading, or otherwise making available any User Content, you automatically grant and/or warrant that the owner has granted Noblis a fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, non-exclusive, worldwide right and license (with the unrestricted right to grant sublicenses) to copy, reproduce, modify, alter, translate, publish, distribute, perform, display, transmit, and otherwise use the User Content in any format or medium. You or the owner also permit any other user of the Website to access, view, display, download, store, print, and otherwise use the User Content to the same extent permitted by this Agreement with respect to other content available on the Website. You are not permitted to provide, upload, or otherwise make available any confidential or proprietary information on the Website and you represent and warrant that all of your User Content in not confidential or proprietary in any way. Persons under 18 years of age are not permitted to provide, upload, or otherwise make available User Content on the Website.

5. TRADEMARKS (Trademarks on the Website)

Noblis trademarks and service marks appearing on the Website include but are not limited to:

Other product and company names appearing on this Website are the trademarks of their respective owners. You may not use any such marks in any way unless you have received permission from Noblis or the trademark owner.

6. WEBSITE SERVICES

Website users will have the opportunity to enroll in subscription services, send email, and submit applications online (“Services”). In order to participate in some of these Services, you must provide true, accurate, current, and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Website’s account registration form (such information being “Personal Information”), which shall be collected pursuant to the Privacy Policy of the Website.

You may only access the Website and Services for lawful purposes. You are solely responsible for the knowledge of and adherence to any and all laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to your use of the Website and Services. You agree that you will not, in connection with the Website or the Services: (i) commit a criminal offense or encourage conduct that would constitute a criminal offense or give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any local, state, Federal, or international law or regulation, including but not limited to export control laws and regulations governing the transmission, export, retransmission, or re-export of technical data from the United States; (ii) upload, post, e-mail, or otherwise transmit any unlawful, threatening, libelous, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, pornographic, profane, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or ethnically, racially, or otherwise objectionable User Content; (iii) upload, post, e-mail, or otherwise transmit any User Content that you do not have a right to transmit; (iv) upload, post, e-mail, or otherwise transmit any User Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other proprietary rights of any person; (v) alter, damage, or delete any User Content or other communications that are not your own, or otherwise interfere with the ability of others to access or use the Services; (vi) disrupt the normal flow of communication or otherwise act in a manner that negatively affects other users’ ability to exchange information; (vii) claim a relationship with or speak for any individual, business, association, institution, or other organization for which you are not authorized to claim such a relationship; (viii) upload, post, e-mail, or otherwise transmit any unsolicited advertising, promotional materials, or other forms of solicitation to other users including, without limitation, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” or “pyramid schemes”; (ix) impose an unreasonable load on the Website’s infrastructure or infect it with viruses, worms, or other malicious computer programs; (x) collect or store personal data about other users; (xi) reproduce, duplicate, copy, use, distribute, sell, resell, or otherwise exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion of the Website or Services; (xii) harm minors in any way; (xiii) stalk or otherwise harass another person; (xiii) collect or store personal information about other users without their permission; (ix) reverse engineer or decompile the software comprising the Website, except as permitted by applicable law; (x) access the Website or any portion of the website without authorization or in a way that exceeds your authorization; and/or (xi) provide false or misleading personal information or email addresses, or impersonate any other person or entity.

Noblis shall have the right, but not the obligation, in its sole discretion to review, edit, or delete any User Content that: (a) violates any term of this Agreement; or (b) is otherwise illegal, offensive, or inappropriate. Noblis disclaims all responsibility for User Content or the content of any transmissions to this Website and all liability arising from such content. Noblis shall have the sole discretion to terminate your access to the Services or the Website. Notwithstanding the Privacy Policy of the Website, Noblis will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court orders requesting or directing Noblis to disclose Personal Information of anyone who submits User Content to the Website in violation of the terms of this Agreement or applicable laws.

7. LINKS

A. Links to the Website

You may create a link from your website to the home page of the Website, without prior written permission, through a plain-text link, namely noblis.org. Noblis asks that you notify us in advance of your intention to do so by contacting corpcomm@noblis.org. You may not use any Noblis trademarks or service marks as links to the Website from other websites, or as machine-readable search terms, such as metatags or hidden text. Noblis reserves the right to revoke your permission to link to the Website in its absolute and sole discretion. Any third party website that links to the Website: (a) shall not create a frame around content of the Website; (b) shall not replicate the content of the Website; (c) shall not state or imply that Noblis sponsors or endorses the third-party website; (d) shall not libel or present false or misleading information of any kind, including information about Noblis or its members; and (e) shall not contain any content that may be construed as illegal, immoral, offensive, controversial, or inappropriate. Deep linking to internal pages of the Website is expressly prohibited. The posting or creation of any link to the Website signifies that you have read and agree to abide by this Agreement. If you believe that any website that links to the Website contains illegal, offensive, or inappropriate content, please send an email to corpcomm@noblis.org.

B. Links from the Website

Links to other websites or Internet locations from the Website have been provided for your convenience only. Noblis does not endorse, sponsor, or approve of any content of such websites or locations. Noblis has no control over any of the websites or Internet locations that you may access through the Website, and is not responsible for the content or accuracy of the content of any such website or location. If you access any other website or Internet location through the Website, you do so at your own risk. If you believe that any link on the Website leads to an illegal, offensive, or inappropriate website, please send an email to corpcomm@noblis.org.

8. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

ALL CONTENT OF THIS WEBSITE, INCLUDING ANY SOFTWARE AND USER CONTENT, IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, NOBLIS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES AND REPRESENTATIONS, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, RELATING TO ANY CONTENT AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES AND REPRESENTATIONS OF NONINFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, SYSTEM INTEGRATION, OR DATA ACCURACY. ALTHOUGH NOBLIS WISHES THE CONTENT OF THIS WEBSITE TO BE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, AND CURRENT, NOBLIS DOES NOT WARRANT OR REPRESENT THAT ANY CONTENT OF THIS WEBSITE (INCLUDING ANY SOFTWARE) OR ANY DATA ON THIS WEBSITE IS ACCURATE, ERROR-FREE, COMPLETE, OR CURRENT, THAT USE OF SUCH CONTENT OR DATA WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THIS WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT OR DATA, AND THE SERVERS ON WHICH THE WEBSITE AND CONTENT ARE AVAILABLE, ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. MOREOVER, NOBLIS DISCLAIMS ANY OBLIGATION TO MAINTAIN THIS WEBSITE OR KEEP IT OPERATIONAL. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES, SO THESE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU IN WHOLE OR IN PART.

9. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL NOBLIS BE LIABLE TO ANY PERSON OR BUSINESS ENTITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES OR LOSSES BASED ON OR CAUSED BY ANY USE OF THIS WEBSITE OR ANY OTHER WEBSITE TO WHICH THIS SITE IS LINKED, THE CONTENT OF THIS OR OTHER WEBSITES, OR ANY VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS DERIVED FROM ANY SUCH WEBSITES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY LOST PROFITS, REVENUE, OR USE, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR LOSS OF COMPUTER PROGRAMS, DATA, OR INFORMATION, EVEN IF NOBLIS HAS BEEN SPECIFICALLY ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR LOSSES. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN LIABILITIES, SO THESE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU IN WHOLE OR IN PART.

10. INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to indemnify and hold Noblis, and its successors, assigns, affiliates, directors, officers, agents, partners, and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and amounts paid to settle claims or demands, made by any person due to or arising out of User Content you submit, post to, email, or otherwise transmit through the Services or Website, your use of the Services, your connection to the Services and Website, or your breach of this Agreement.

11. TERMINATION OF SERVICE

You may discontinue your participation in and access to the Website and Services at any time. The Agreement will continue to apply to all past use of the Website and Services by you, even if you are no longer using it. You acknowledge and agree that Noblis and its affiliates may terminate or block your use of all or part of the Website and Services without prior notice for any reason, including, without limitation, if Noblis believes you have engaged in conduct prohibited by this Agreement. You agree that upon termination or discontinuance for any reason, we may delete all information related to you on the Website and Services and may bar your use of the Services.

12. MODIFICATION OF THE WEBSITE OR SERVICES

Noblis reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Website and/or Services with or without notice. You agree that Noblis will not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension, or discontinuance of service.

13. JURISDICTION AND CHOICE OF LAW

This Website is hosted on servers located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States of America. All disputes arising out of or relating to this Agreement or Noblis’ operation of this Website shall be resolved by binding arbitration in the County of Fairfax in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States of America, pursuant to the rules of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), by a single arbitrator. The parties shall select the arbitrator. If they are unable to agree on an arbitrator, the arbitrator shall be selected by the AAA. All such disputes shall be governed by the laws of Virginia and applicable federal laws, without giving effect to conflicts of laws principles. The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (“UCITA”), as enacted in the Commonwealth of Virginia or in any other Commonwealth or State of the United States, shall not apply to this Agreement.

Noblis controls and operates the Website from the County of Fairfax in the State of Virginia, United States of America and makes no representation or warranty that the content of the Website is appropriate, lawful, or available for use in other geographic locations. If you use the Website from other locations, you are responsible for compliance with all applicable local laws.

14. NO WAIVER

The failure of Noblis to enforce any provision of this Agreement or to respond to a breach of this Agreement by you or other persons shall not in any way constitute a waiver of Noblis’ rights to enforce any provision of this Agreement against you or any other person at any time.

15. NOTICES

Noblis may give notices to users of the Website, at Noblis’ option, by posting a message on the Website, by e-mail, or by regular mail. Notices to Noblis can be sent via e-mail to corpcomm@noblis.org or by regular mail to Noblis, Inc., 2002 Edmund Halley Drive, Reston, Virginia 20191, Attention: Corporate Communications.

16. PRIVACY POLICY

Information about you is subject to the Privacy Policy of this Website.